parable

I was thinking of writing a continuation to my parable story, A Better Place and I thought I'd ask a few questions here to help with my research.

What is heaven to you?

Is it:

1. The universe as seen from the earth?
2. The abode of God, angels, and the souls of those who are granted salvation?
3. An eternal state of communion with God; an everlasting bliss?
4. A place of great happiness, delight, or pleasure?
5. All the above Or is it something completely different?

Continuation questions:

What do you imagine heaven to be like?
What can or can't you do in heaven?
What do you plan to do when you get there?
How would your views or opinions change once there?
Why are you looking forward to heaven?
Who do you think belongs in heaven?
Are you free of sin once you get there?
And what makes it a better place than earth or that other place?

I'm probably opening a can of worms with a few of the questions, but I think it makes for a healthy discussion. Answer any or all of the questions, I'd appreciate the feedback.

dean trippe actually drew how i pictured heaven in one of his butterfly strips.

this could be a fun discussion. i'll get back to answering some of those questions when i have a little more time.

Heaven.

Well, lot's of people imagine it to be lots of clouds and singing and harps and stuff.

I think we'll be praising God, yes, but don't you think singing would get boring over a couple thousand years?

Paul talks about us recieving heavenly bodies when we get there... so I think there might be a lot stuff to do, much analagous to the physical world. We'll spend the infinite exploring and climbing and running and playing and eating and flying and jumping and learning and lot's of cool stuff we can't even imagine, all with God... there won't be any barrier in between us anymore.

I'm real passionate about cartooning, like a lot of you, but in heaven there will be stuff that is even more fun and fulfilling.

Of course, Heaven lies outside of our imagination, so that's all my feeble mind can come up with.

Whatever it is, it'll be good. And we know it'll be good because we know God is good and loves his kids.

HEAVEN WILL BE OUTRAGEOUS!!!!

It will be the perfection of all creation.
Everything will be interlocking in complete love.
There will be no death, or decay. . .
Only life.

Wonderful things that may bring us fear in this life (creatures, natural phenomenon, etc.) will be marvelous beings that we may interact with.

I don't know if we'll have to sleep. But if we do I'm sure we'll have killer dreams.

I think we all belong there. I think we will be free from sin (completely). Free from our bodies of death. We'll see what God truly created in us... the Spirit that lives in us combined with our life that's hidden in Christ.

I'm not worthy to get into a place like that; I'm scared of the process leading up to our arrival. I'm just counting on Jesus' blood.

Thanks for asking!